1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cleaning apparatus and, more particularly, to a device for cleaning the grooves in the head of a golf club, although the invention may be utilized for cleaning the grooves of any device having a plurality of parallel grooves.
2. Description of Prior Art
Several types of golf club heads are designed with parallel grooves spaced across the head of the club. During use of the club these grooves tend to become clogged with dirt, sand and the like and the present invention relates to an apparatus for removing such foreign material from these grooves.
The object of the grooves on a golf club is to provide friction between the face of the club and the ball. The friction enables the golfer to impart maximum energy to the golf ball and produce backspin on the golf ball when desired. Backspin being a desirable result on many golf shots. The creation of the desired friction is best accomplished by having the largest number of grooves possible on the golf club head and having the greatest groove width possible. Thus, all grooved club heads are similar with respect to the groove design present on the club head.
Under the Rules of Golf of the United States Golf Association, the minimum permissable distance between grooves is .075 inch and the maximum permitted width of a groove is 0.035 inch.
The problem of clogged grooves in the head of a golf club has plagued the golfer for years. If the grooves become clogged, there will not be an efficient transfer of energy from the club head to the ball and the ball will not have any backspin. In response to this problem various types of groove cleaning devices have been developed, for example, see U.S. Pat. No. 3,763,515, issued in 1973. However, developing a groove cleaner that works well and can be manufactured and marketed at a reasonable cost has proven to be exceedingly difficult. None of the prior art devices are able to simultaneously clean a plurality of such grooves and accomodate variations in the distances between such grooves.